Ch. 11- Developing and Managing Products

Coca Cola first began as a simple company that just sold Coke. Although they advertised

heavily their one innovation and everlasting one was Coca Cola. However with new markets on the rise, and more people demanding different things to satisfy their needs, Coke began to make new drinks to satisfy their target market. This is known as product development. Product development is “ a marketing strategy that entails the creation of marketable new products; the process of converting applications for new technologies into marketable products.” This is exactly what Coke did for various drinks. When people began to ask for a citrus flavored drink then they came out with Sprite. When the trend of dieting came along they came up with the new drink known as tab. This was targeted towards women who wanted to lose weight. Although Tab was fairly popular when it came out, however it was still later killed off in its maturity stage. Then later it was adopted into diet coke. When the fans of Coke wanted something with even less sugar than Coke Zero was made. This product development was a

major success for Coca Cola. It still continues in its growth stage today. However not all new products are always good. Some products hit a decline stage in which its sales drop continuously over some time. When the “new” (different formula) Coke was announced, then customers who were loyal to the brand were outraged causing Coke to lose a lot of money and bring back the Coca Cola classic. Developing products for new markets is always important, however sometimes you can't beat the classics.